MOBILE, Alabama -- Attorneys for a Mobile County farmer and 2 of his sons last week asked a judge to dismiss charges that they conspired to destroy evidence of child sexual abuse.

Federal prosecutors contend that Bill Atkinson, an unsuccessful candidate for the state Legislature last year, ordered sons Mathew David Atkinson and Andrew Seth Atkinson in February of this year to destroy a digital video recorder that contained evidence that a third son, Will Atkinson, had molested children.

The argument by Bill Atkinson’s attorneys, joined by lawyers for the other 2 defendants, is that the law prosecutors used to charge the men is unconstitutionally vague. They argue that the Congress intended the law, amended by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002, to prevent financial companies from shredding documents to obstruct a “contemplated investigation” that had not yet begun.

“That statute is a little confusing at times in how you read it,” said Buzz Jordan, an attorney for Bill Atkinson.

Prosecutors have until Monday to respond.

Defense attorneys maintain that the destruction of the DVR hard drive occurred not only before federal authorities launched an investigation in the United States, but before defendants could even have known such a probe even was contemplated. The attorneys argue that the defendants, therefore, could not have had the requisite criminal intent to sustain the charge.

“If there was no federal investigation, there could be no crime,” said attorney Dennis Knizley, who represents Andrew Atkinson.

Even if the defendants did know about an imminent investigation, the attorneys argue, their actions could not have obstructed it because they knew the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office already had copies of the evidence on DVDs.

Knizley last week asked a judge to order prosecutors to file a more detailed description of the allegations, including the specific date they allege the DVR destruction occurred and the exact date that the U.S. investigation began.

That should clear up any confusion about when the U.S. investigation began and whether the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office had copies of the images before the DVR was destroyed, he said.

The trial of all 3 men is scheduled for August in U.S. District Court in Mobile.

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For a complete roundup of news from Federal Court, see Monday's Federal Court Digest.